Dame Kiri puts Hayley out in the cold - NZ Herald

[martindn]

Well, perhaps so, but I can't believe Kiri can ever have heard Hayley sing live. If she had, she would know that Hayley has an absolutely world class voice. Kiri's opinion of Hayley sounds a lot like mine before I heard her live, but it took only a few seconds before I realised how wrong I was. Singers like that don't disappear like fashionable pop artists. Hayley has already shown that she is versatile enough to reinvent herself as necessary, and this had always been the secret of enduring popularity in pop music. Not that I regard Hayley as a pop artist, but I'm sure that the same principle could apply.
But perhaps it doesn't really need to. In Hayley's case, her voice is everything, and it is hard to imagine her singing anything that I would not enjoy listening to.
Hayley has already performed in a huge range of different styles, and done things that I'm sure Dame Kiri has never attempted. Like using her voice as an orchestral instrument in "The New World", and everything from opera to progressive rock.
No. the only way Hayley will not last is if she chooses not to. And even then, the records she has already made will always be classics.
This outburst by Dame Kiri is very sad. She is (or was) a fine singer, and should not need to make those sorts of comments about others. Like Hayley, she should prove her point through her music.

Martin

[Dori]

Well, I think that if there is a suggestion that Kiri Te Kanawa was mis-quoted, then she would have definitely spoken up by now about it. It doesn't make sense that, if the media has made a mistake, she would stay quiet and do nothing about it. By now, there would have been a lot of press releases about her defending herself, so I don't have much doubt that she has said what she has said.
But I would really love for her to speak about this a little more, and I can't wait for a 'formal appology'.

Dori

[fusilier23]

I think Dame Kiri is going to have to eat crow at this point, she knows she stepped out of bounds. This sort of thing should really be beneath a matriarch like her who is supposed to be showing the way to young singers, not saying they are not in her rarefied world.

An apology is nice, and needed, but I think she needs to take some action to show she knows she was wrong as well. What should that action be?

[stuartj]

martindn said:

Well, perhaps so, but I can't believe Kiri can ever have heard Hayley sing live. If she had, she would know that Hayley has an absolutely world class voice. Kiri's opinion of Hayley sounds a lot like mine before I heard her live, but it took only a few seconds before I realised how wrong I was. Singers like that don't disappear like fashionable pop artists. Hayley has already shown that she is versatile enough to reinvent herself as necessary, and this had always been the secret of enduring popularity in pop music. Not that I regard Hayley as a pop artist, but I'm sure that the same principle could apply.
But perhaps it doesn't really need to. In Hayley's case, her voice is everything, and it is hard to imagine her singing anything that I would not enjoy listening to.
Hayley has already performed in a huge range of different styles, and done things that I'm sure Dame Kiri has never attempted. Like using her voice as an orchestral instrument in "The New World", and everything from opera to progressive rock.
No. the only way Hayley will not last is if she chooses not to. And even then, the records she has already made will always be classics.
This outburst by Dame Kiri is very sad. She is (or was) a fine singer, and should not need to make those sorts of comments about others. Like Hayley, she should prove her point through her music.

Martin

Martin, I think you underate how much the opera community hates (it isn't to strong a word) the crossover singers. They will never admit that Hayley, or the others, have world-class voices. They are all, according to the purists, "barely mediocre". They will insist that the crossover singers are POP singers - used pejoratively (and it is true that they are operating in the popular domain). The purists will argue that pop artists have a brief time in the limelight and are then quickly forgotten, and I see that you suggest something similar.

But while this is true of popular writers, it has never been true of popular singers. The evidence that popular singers don't have a brief time in the limelight and are then forgotten is all around us.

It was said about Elvis that he'd be quickly forgotten - about the beatles, about the Rolling stones, you name them.

I have seen a brave classical purist on YouTube, tucked away amongst screeds of videos featuring the pop stars of yesteryear, bravely asserting that even the most famous of pop stars were quickly forgotten.

[gerrit]

Hi All,

I think the most refined reaction to this arrogant dame would be that at her next concert, the audience should en masse throw pieces of underwear at her, each piece accompanied by an appropriate note, something like this:

"Dear Dame,
We thought you might like a change of underwear. Maybe that will help to disseminate the snobby smell of atrophied arrogance that engulfs you."

[thomas]

Hi all!

Thank you, Stephany, for posting that article.
Well, Dame Kiri obviously doesn't like Hayley's voice ... or maybe she grudges Hayley the success she has. Hayley is not in Kiri's world and it's perfect that she is not. I don't like pure opera and if Hayley was a second Kiri I wouldn't even know her.
Anyway, it's better to be the first Hayley than to be the second Kiri.

Hayley did the very best in not commenting Kiri's attack. Hayley is a nice girl and once more has shown her qualities.
If Kiri never used a microphone how could she record a CD? Just singing loud in the record studio doesn't make the sound go on CD without a mircophone.

But I can imagine with that comment Kiri even helped Hayley. Many are talking about Hayley showing her their respect.
Someone once said, "It doesn't matter what you write about me, just make sure my name is spelled correctly!" i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif Well, Hayley's name was spelled correctly many times and a lot of people talk about her. That's not too bad.

I DO highly respect Hayley! To have respect for somebody, in my opinion, it's not a question of talent. It's more a question of how you appear in this world and how you treat other people. Hayley is natural and couldn't do any better.

Go on, Hayley, and be yourself like you always was. I've come to the UK many times to see and hear you and hope that I can continue with that. I wouldn't do that for Kiri.

We all love you, Hayley!

Best wishes,
Thomas

[stuartj]

From:
tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1598358
-------------------------------------------------Quote TVNZ
Dame Kiri stands by her words
Feb 24, 2008 1:25 PM

Dame Kiri is standing by her remark that singer Hayley Westenra is not in her world, and never has been.

The opera diva says she wasn't commenting on the quality of Ms Westenra's voice, but on the difference in their styles.

Kiri Te Kanawa says hers is the operatic world, and those in it have reached the highest pinnacle of music they can.

She says Ms Westenra in her own way has striven to get where she is and all congratulations to her.

Dame Kiri says what she doesn't want is for the two of them to be compared.
-----------------------------------------END QUOTE

[stevemacdonald]

In the case of Kiri, it would be most fitting if they changed the "e" in "Dame" to an "n".

[Dave]

stuartj said:

From:
tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1598358
-------------------------------------------------Quote TVNZ
Dame Kiri stands by her words
Feb 24, 2008 1:25 PM

Dame Kiri is standing by her remark that singer Hayley Westenra is not in her world, and never has been.

Thanks for that Stuart, it's a feeble attempt at damage limitation... no more, no less. Interestingly, she apparently fails to comment on what has upset people most, the most outrageously insulting remarks of all:

``They are all fake singers, they sing with a microphone.

``People call them up-and-coming, but they never last. They are the new fakes for the new generation.''

... and by "all" she is including Hayley.. with no retraction.

Bah! humbug! Dame Kiri, nobody is fooled by your excuses. Keep digging that hole you've got yourself into. Keep Hayley in the headlines.

Dave

[fusilier23]

That has to be the snootiest and most hypocritical comment I have ever heard, especially in light of the fact that Dame Kiri's idea of the greatest voice of all is the young Elvis Presley.

The idea that operatic singers have reached the highest pinnacle of music they can might, I suppose, have some merit, there is no question that folks like a Placido Domngo, who can sing the work of almost all major composers, or a Cecilia Bartoli or Juan Diego Florez, both of whom display incredible vocal control, are worth honoring. But Kiri seems to imply that only her world is worth honoring, and that's nonsense. There is plenty of room in this world for all tastes and all forms of music, from classical to heavy metal. Personally there are some kinds of music I don't like, and I think there are some that don't have a lot of artistic merit, but classical crossover isn't one of them. What Dame Kiri is displaying is the rudest of musical snobbism.

No one is going to compare her and Hayley by the way, that would be like comparing a two-year-old light racehorse just entering her prime to a gray-muzzled Percheron. They're both horses, but that's it.

I am disgusted by this failure of graciousness on Dame Kiri's part. She had an excellent chance to tamp this down and she just threw gas on the fire.

Dame Kiri should have to do a full concert in Christchurch now, including at least three Maori songs and three recognizable crossover pieces, with the proceeds to go to one of Hayley's charities.

[Joe]

fusilier23 said:

I am disgusted by this failure of graciousness on Dame Kiri's part. She had an excellent chance to tamp this down and she just threw gas on the fire.

Exactly, Steven. Kiri totally blew any chance of putting this situation right.

[stevemacdonald]

Kiri's too much of a veteran not to know how her interview would look in print. I see her as stirring us all up maybe just for fun, like skeet shooting -- her big hobby.

Let's not rise to the bait any more. Hayley doesn't need defending from a loose cannon like Kiri Te Can-O-Worms.

[fusilier23]

Actually I heard Dreary te Can-o-worms, but close enough. Hopefully Renee Fleming or Frederica von Stade would be more gracious if they had occasion to comment on Hayley's work, or follow tenor Daniel Rodriguez' repetition of the old saw "if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all."

[stuartj]

tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/1598552

Papers hyped my comments: Dame Kiri
Feb 24, 2008 5:19 PM

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa claims her comments about singer Hayley Westenra were hyped up to sell newspapers.

She is also standing by her remark that singer Hayley Westenra is not in her world, and never has been.

It is claimed that Dame Kiri said that she and 20-year-old Westenra are in different musical worlds and that the popular operatic style Westenra is known for is full of fake singers who have to use microphones.

But Dame Kiri says she was taken out of context. She says she stands by her remark that she and Westenra work in different worlds.

She said she was not commenting on the quality of Westenra's voice, but on the difference in their styles.

Kiri Te Kanawa says hers is the operatic world, and those in it have reached the highest pinnacle of music they can.

She says Westenra in her own way has striven to get where she is and all congratulations to her and what she does not want is for the two of them to be compared.

Dame Kiri is appearing in Sunday's Starlight Symphony in Auckland.
---------------------------------------------------------
I have to disagree with Steve about Kiri knowing how her words will look in print. She is simply living up to her well-earned reputation for not being very bright.

She should never have slagged off a fellow Kiwi in that fashion, and her comments about people having to use microphones are brainless. Sure opera fans and some others will know what she is on about, but Joe Bloggs who neither knows nor cares about the traditions of opera will simply think that she's a bit odd, if not completely out of her tree.

I agree totally with Dave that these latest comments are a feeble attempt at damage limitation and will only backfire.

As Dave said the important bits - the "fake" reference, for example, aren't dealt with.

And anyway the Great Dame is having to explain herself!

And now she is blaming the press for hyping her words to sell papers --- oh dear, oh dear.

It's true that Hayley doesn't need defending against this -- Dame Kiri is her own worst enemy.

Hayley is getting bags of international publicity as a result of this and only has to sit there and do nothing -- decline politely to comment -- while Dame Kiri digs a bigger and bigger hole for herself.

[Mr Yang]

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa just doesn't know the recording industry.

Meanwhile we never consider Hayley the same genre as Kiri is in. Hayley is classical crossover, not pure classical. Hayley is popera, not opera. People like opera and people also like popera.